WebDAV didn't really catch on, but the general product space of remote drives did. The problem with WebDAV is that like most Web* tech (and maybe Braid) it's design by committee in the abstract. To make remote drives work well for the end user requires a fairly complicated protocol with tons of ugly edge cases. The interoperable standards from committees approach tends to fail in those situations, whereas hard driving startups that use proprietary protocols they can iterate quickly tend to win.
Iteration speed > openness, when there's nothing to copy from. Standardization tends to be about bigger companies trying to commodify their competitors.
WebDAV didn't really catch on, but the general product space of remote drives did. The problem with WebDAV is that like most Web* tech (and maybe Braid) it's design by committee in the abstract. To make remote drives work well for the end user requires a fairly complicated protocol with tons of ugly edge cases. The interoperable standards from committees approach tends to fail in those situations, whereas hard driving startups that use proprietary protocols they can iterate quickly tend to win.
Iteration speed > openness, when there's nothing to copy from. Standardization tends to be about bigger companies trying to commodify their competitors.